This invention relates to a holder for a baby bottle which thermally insulates the bottle's contents and includes a strap and fastener by which the bottle and holder may be attached and hence secured to any nearby object such as the arm of a highchair, etc., having a free or unrestricted cross-sectional area of suitable dimensions. This invention thus acts to restrain the bottle from any deliberate or inadvertent release by the baby holding it. This feature makes the baby bottle holder of the present invention particularly appropriate for use with infants mature enough to hold and manipulate the bottle, that is, those infants whose ages range from the immediate pretoddler stage which starts at around 10 months to several years of age or whenever they give up their bottles.
Small infants are well-known for their intransigence in holding toys, books, feeding objects, and other articles in their hands. They often will, without apparent provocation, release or throw down any hand-held object. Generally, no unpleasant results occur since any other object can be substituted for the one released and the baby satisfied. A problem can arise, however, when the baby is nursing on a bottle and drops or throws down the bottle. First of all, the bottle is often used as a pacifying instrument, particularly in public or in an automobile, and its release is often accompanied by the baby's demand for its return by a loud vocal display, a feature not generally appreciated by the baby's handlers or, particularly, by nearby persons in public places. Next, the bottle may come to rest in some inconvenient place, say under the car seat or under the table at a restaurant where its immediate retrieval is either dangerous (in a car) or embarrassing (in a restaurant). There is also the factor both of the mess caused by any spillage from the contents of the bottle and the potential damage either to the bottle or to the object hit by the bottle following its release.
These problems are readily overcome by the bottle holder, strap and fastener of the present invention since the bottle, through the holder and strap, may be secured to any suitable nearby object. It is thus restrained when thrown down by the baby and thus both protected from being damaged itself and prevented from damaging nearby objects. The bottle and holder's final position will always be fixed as determined by the strap and hence readily retrieved for handing back to the baby.
The most pertinent prior art which has been found is in Patent Number 3,718,360 to Frances M. Knutzen, dated Feb. 27, 1973. This invention discloses a plastic sleeve into which the baby bottle is inserted. The sleeve includes a pair of attached circular handles which are adapted to be grasped by the baby without having to turn or rotate its wrists. The patent suggests several details including the size and placements of the handles on the sleeve for making the bottle and holder easier to be held by the baby. there is no suggestion or teaching in the patent for securing the bottle against droppage, either accidentally or on purpose. In fact, the handles may actually aid the baby in throwing the bottle thereby giving it a longer trajectory than would be possible without them. Thus, the difficulty in retrieving a bottle held in Knutzen's bottle holder which has been thrown may be increased over that of a plain bottle. This result, of course, is directly contrary to that provided by Applicants invention which physically restrains the bottle when released.